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Genuine road resurfacing, Australia

The tarmac scam is a confidence trick in which criminals sell fake or shoddy tarmac (asphalt) and driveway resurfacing. It is particularly common in Europe but practiced worldwide.[1][2] Other names include the paving scam, tarmacking, the asphalt scam, driveway fraud or similar variants. Non-English names include "Truffa dell'asfalto" (Italian), "Teerkolonne" (German) and "faux bitumeurs" (French).[3][4][5]

Method

A conman typically goes door-to-door, claiming to be a builder working on a contract who has some leftover tarmac, and offering to pave a driveway at a low cost.[2][6]

The paving is in fact often simply gravel chippings covered with engine oil,[2] or not the right depth and type of materials to form a lasting road surface.[3] Milk has been used to make a fake sealant.[7][8]

The conmen may target elderly, vulnerable residents,[9][10][11] and claim to be official contractors working on roadworks to add credibility.[12] Reported escalation has included increasing the cost, claiming that the job has required more material than expected, and making threats.[13][14][15]

Criminals

Rathkeale, County Limerick, Ireland, the base of many tarmac scam gangs

Tarmac fraud is particularly associated with the Rathkeale Rovers and other gangs from the Irish traveller community.[16][17][1][18] The organiser of the scheme may lead a gang of low-paid workers,[3] or human trafficking victims.[19][20][8] Cases have been reported since the 1980s.[9][21][22][23]

Irish crime reporter Eamon Dillon, an expert on the gangs involved, interviewed a builder who worked with a gang who said that they had custom-built lorries which could never do a proper job: "a proper tarring lorry will have sixty jets, our tar lorries have eight".[3] In another case, the equipment was rented in Romania and then never returned.[1] Another gang used a lorry with Highways Agency branding.[13]

The relative mundanity of tarmacking may have made it a low priority for law enforcement.[2][8] Dillon has estimated that the scheme may earn up to $140 million a year[2] and that in 2010 there were 20 gangs active in Italy alone, earning €2 million a week.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c Dillon, Eamon. "'From Africa to Iceland, Norway to New Zealand, Rathkeale Rovers' Travellers have dealt in everything from tarmac to rhino horn'". Sunday World. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d e Homans, Charles (17 March 2014). "The Dead Zoo Gang: On the trail of international horn thieves". Atavist. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Dillon, Eamon (2013). Gypsy empire: uncovering the hidden world of Ireland's Travellers. London. pp. 204–213. ISBN 9781848271692. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Willsher, Kim; Carroll, Rory (8 September 2021). "Eight men convicted in French court for trafficking rhino horn and ivory". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Les faux "bitumeurs irlandais" enrobent de nouvelles victimes". L'Indépendant. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  6. ^ Mead, Matthew. "Tarmac Scam Operating in North Shropshire". Hugo Fox. Bomere Heath & District Parish Council. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Tomney family from Cleveleys jailed for driveway fraud". BBC News. 7 November 2011. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  8. ^ a b c Day, Tim. ""What's going on 'ere, then?" An empirical exploration of the anatomy of rogue trading incidents". University of Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  9. ^ a b Mandelstam, Michael (2013). Safeguarding adults and the law (2nd ed.). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. ISBN 9780857006264. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Stanleys convicted in paving scams". Nashua Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  11. ^ Alt, Betty Sowers (2004). Fleecing grandma and grandpa : protecting against scams, cons, and frauds. Westport, Conn.: Praeger. ISBN 9780275981792. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  12. ^ "Tarmac scam". Construction News. 4 May 2006. Archived from the original on 12 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  13. ^ a b Penman, Andrew (5 September 2018). "Meet the conman who took the old driveway resurfacing scam to new lows". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  14. ^ "Tarmac Scam Warning". News.wales. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  15. ^ "Tarmac scam artists continue". Irish Farmers Journal. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  16. ^ Higginbotham, Adam (2 January 2014). "The Irish Clan Behind Europe's Rhino-Horn Theft Epidemic". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  17. ^ Foy, Ken. "From rhino horn theft to tarmac scams and now forged Covid test results – the Rathkeale Rovers gang's criminal reach extends worldwide". Independent. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  18. ^ Dillon, Eamon. "Arrest warrants issued for Irish trio in France after being convicted over tarmacking scam". Sunday World. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  19. ^ Simpson, John; Schlesinger, Fay. "British men trafficked abroad by slave gangs". The Times. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  20. ^ Holt, Alison (February 2012). "British men forced into 'modern slavery' abroad". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 September 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Gypsy Paver Season Here". Michigan Roads & Construction. 5 June 1980. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  22. ^ "Gang in pounds 2m tarmac fraud jailed". The Independent. 5 October 1994. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  23. ^ "Honours for work of police officers". Gazette and Herald. 9 May 2002. Archived from the original on 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  24. ^ Dillon, Eamon. "Irish travellers from Rathkeale hit Italian and French householders in tarmac scam". Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
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